Railway car coupling



July 28, 1936. H. JAKOBS RAILWAY CAR COUPLING Filed April 5, 1935 2 She'ets-Sheet l July 28, 1936.

H. JAKOBS 2,048,867

RAILWAY CAR COUPLING Filed April 5, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.

Jnzzafor NITED STATES T The present invention consists in improvements RAIIJWAY CAR COUPLING Hermann Jakobs, Maybach, Saar Application April 5, 1935, Serial No. 14,833

In Germany February 1'7, 1932 4 Claims.

in or relating to railway car couplings, more particularly for goods c coupling hooks and coupling links operable from ars, of the type comprising the side by means of a transverse operating shaft.

The object of the invention is to make the coupling operation of such couplings entirely automatic in such a manner that the coupling can be brought by means of the operating gear into the required ready for operation position in connection with all the c ars to be coupled, before the cars are moved towards each other, the closing of the coupling occurring quite automatically by the movement of the cars towards each other.

Known couplings of. the ordinary type cannot be easily converted into automatic couplings owing to the fact that the coupling hooks and coupling links are independently movable and therefore not suitable for automatic operation from the side. In 0 rder to avoid this dimculty it has been suggested to combine the coupling hook with the coupling link so as to form a single coupling member which was longitudinally movable so that on being raised directly by hand,

the coupling membe r could slide under a stop or abutment provided upon the car by means of which it was held in the ready for coupling position. This arrangement necessitated giving up the advantage of independent movement of the two coupling halves,

and it. had, moreover, the

drawback that the disengaging of the coupling became very difficult.

In another construction in which only one coupling member operable by an operating shaft was used, it was diflicultto maintain the engagement owing to 1 the very small mobility of the coupling parts. In order to avoid this disadvantage, it was necessary on raising the coupling by hand, to put the whole coupling under tension,

for instance, by means of spring bufiers.

Such

couplings associated with spring buffers, however,

are not suitable for heavy working conditions,

more particularly for cars carrying goods.

It is the object of the present invention to avoid the drawbacks of theknown couplings. According to the invention couplings comprising coupling hooks and adapted to be moved coupling links, which are into the ready for coupling position by means of levers mounted upon a transversely arranged operating shaft, are so constructed that, on tur ning the operating shaft in one direction, the coupling hook-which is suspended from the raises forked memb shaft by means of a longitudiis first jraised and in turn ers to which the coupling pling after the approach of the cars,

hook is hinged. The coupling hook then slides backwards upon the operating shaft and in doing so engages under abutments or stops provided upon the car, whereby it is held in the ready for coupling position and. in turn also holds the 5 coupling links in the ready for coupling position. By turning the same operating shaft in the opposite direction, all the coupling members are moved from the ready-for-coupling position back into the ordinary position by means of projec- 0 tions mounted upon the shaft. These projections act upon the forked members which carry the coupling link and. are mounted upon the operating shaft by means of portions having longitudinal slots. These forked members in turn 15 move the coupling hook out of engagement with the abutments provided upon the car so that'both coupling hook and the forked members drop back into their normal position. By this construction, the advantage is attained that the coupling halves, that is, the coupling hook and the coupling link are normally loosely suspended from the car so that they do not interfere in any way with the ordinary manipulation of the car and do not involve any risk or danger to the operators. Moreover, the improved construction results in a very speedy and reliable manipulation.

One constructional example embodying the features of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows in elevation the improved automatic safety coupling in the ready-for-coupling two couplings in the position they assume immediately after automatic coupling,

Fig. 4 shows in elevation the firmly locked cou- Fig. 5 is an elevation of the coupling hook,

Fig. 6 is a plan of the coupling hook,

Fig. '7 is a top view of the coupling link,

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the coupling link,

Fig. 9 shows in elevation one ofthe forked 5 members carrying the coupling link, and

Fig. 10 is a planof one of the forked members,

Fig. 11 shows in elevation a lever and a projection fixedly mounted upon the operating shaft, and Fig. 12 is a plan of a lifter arm and a projection.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 3, there are fixed 'upon the ends of the railway cars m and .m

vidediupon the brackets c.

somewhat exceeding the width of the car and carrying upon its ends double-armed operating levers b, b Between the two bearing eyes of the brackets c is loosely mounted upon the operating shaft a a coupling hook by means of an elongated slot is. The coupling hook is provided on both sides with transversely extending arms g, g. Outside the eyes of the brackets c which carry the operating shaft a and close to these eyes, are mounted upon the operating shaft a two forked members h and i which are likewise suspended from the shaft a by means of longitudinal slots clearly shown in Fig. 9. The free ends" of these members 71. and 2' form forks M, k and 2' 2' to which is hinged the coupling link 7'. The laterally projecting arms 9, g of the hook 7 extend under the forked members it, 2'. Upon the shaft a are fixedly mounted adjacent to the forked members h, z the lifter arms d, d and the uncoupling projections e, e. gage under the ends of the arms 9, whilst the uncoupling projections e, e co-op'e'rate with 'corresponding surfaces of the forked members 71,

and 'i. All the parts are so arranged that on rotating the arms of the double-armed levers b, b the coupling hook 1 together with the forked 'me'mbe'rs h, z resting upon the transverse arms 9, g or the hook, are lifted by the arms d, d of .the operating shaft, the latter acting upon the arms!) and are therefore sloped so that the coupling hook fwith its arms g can easily slide backwards (see Fig. 11, dotted line, and Fig. 12) and the arms g acting upon the forked members. on

releasing the operating shaft and the arms d,

the coupling hook 1 slides backwards with its longitudinal slot 70 upon theoperating shaft until it engages with its rear end an abutment Z pro- By this the coupling hook I is held in the position shown in Fig. 1, that is, in the upwardly inclined position, and the coupling link i which is hinged to the forked members h, i is held in a horizontal position. The coupling link a is provided for this purpose with abutments n (see Fig. 8) which engage under the fork members. The coupling links are wedge shaped at 7' at their'front ends 'so that when two such coupling links lying substantially in the same plane are moved towards each other, one of the coupling links 7' will belifted upwards by the other link. Consequently, upon moving two cars, thecouplings of which have been moved into the ready-for-coupling position according to Fig. 1, automatic coupling will occur, inasmuch as thecoupling link, for instance 0 which has lifted the other coupling link 1' will meet the downwardly inclined face portion of the opposite coupling hook f and will lift that hook and then automatically engage that hook when the latter returns-to its initial position. The coupling linky' is limited in its downward movement by its projections n meeting the forked'memb'e'rs, and therefore is held in its horizontal ready-for-coupling positionautomatically. After two "cars have been coupled together by the automatic coupling, the

idle coupling link 9' lies upon the back of the coupled hook of the opposite coupling, as shown in Fig. 3.

The operation is as follows: a

In order to couple the cars m, m the couplings are first brought into the ready-for-coupling position by suitably turning the levers b. The coupling-links 7', O of the two cars m, m are thereby moved into substantially the same horizontal plane. On moving the two cars towards e'ach other, one of the coupling links, for instance The lifter arms d, (Z enthe coupling link 7, moves over the coupling link 0 of the car m and is raised thereby and alsoby the coupling hook f of the car m whilst the coupling link 0 turns the coupling hook I of the car m upwards and then engages therewith (Fig. 3). The two cars m, m have therefore been automatically coupled, but the two coupling hooks f, 1 remain still in their upwardly inclined position, being held in these positions by the abutments l, l of the brackets c, 0. Upon the cars being pulled away from each other, the coupling hooks are pulled out of their locked positions and assume positions determined by the pulling force acting upon them, the disengaged coupling link 1' resting 'upon the other, that is, the engaged coupling link '0. Upon subsequent meeting of the car strongestvibrations, inasmuch as the disengaged coupling link 7' rests with its front wedge-shaped "end'a'gain's't the upperside'of the forked members h, i, and owing to the approach of the cars, slides backwards by means of its elongated hole over the engaged cou'pling link Oso that the latter is firmly locked and automatic disengagement is quite impossible (see Fig. '4).

For uncoupling two cars, the lever b, or b of the ear of whichthe coupling hook engages the coupling link of the other car, is turned by foot pressure. The coupling hook ,f of this car is then raised in exactly'the same manner as on moving the coupling into the re'a'dy-for-coupling positionand' is therebydisengaged from the coupling link 0 and locked in the upwardly inclined position in the manner previously mentioned, namely, by'sliding backwards upon its shaft a and engaging with its rear'e'nd under an abutment Z of the bracket 0. The released coupling link "then automatically drops into its suspended normal position, the corresponding coupling hook beleast one of th'e'two cars is again in the ready- V for-coupling position.

In orderto return the coupling from the readyfor c'oup lin'g position into the normal position, 'whichfmam'for instance, be required in order to .ifioVeth car onto a conveying platform, the

lever b, b is turned forwards, whereby the uncouplingprojections e, e are caused to move the forkedmembers h, i forwards. The forked members are provided with surfaces which during the forward-movement of the forked members, which is caused by the uncoupling projections e,'e strike the transverse arms 9 of the corresponding coupling hook and move"the coupling hook forward until same becomes disengaged from the coupling is no longer possible even with the abutment Z of the bracket 'c. .The coupling hook and for'ked' members, as well as the coupling link then drop into the suspended normal position.

It may bepoin'ted' out that the improved construction of the automatic coupling permits of a free passage of the car over switch points. 'Ihe"" 'cou plingfhook and the coupling link are in this construction independently movable and there- 'foreall the. 'advantagesbf this type of coupling r retained; whilst permitting or manipulation fromthe sideand automatic coupling by movement of thecars.

n; anautomatic car coupling 'the'combination of: ,a =car; a shaft mounted upon said car;

manually operable means for turning said shaft in either direction; a coupling hook mounted to turn upon said shaft and also to slide a limited distance in a plane at right angles to said shaft; means carried by said shaft for raising said coupling hook upon rotation of said shaft; means carried by the car for engaging said coupling hook when the latter is lifted into the readyfor-coupling position and is slid backwards by its own weight; forked members rotatably mounted upon said shaft and adapted to slide a limited amount relatively to said shaft in a plane at right angles to said shaft; a coupling link pivotally mounted upon said forked members; and means carried by said coupling hook, for raising said forked members into the ready-for-coupling position, and means for returning the coupling hook and the coupling link into the normal suspended position by rotation of the shaft.

2. In an automatic car coupling the combination of: a car; an operating shaft rotatably mounted upon said car; manually operable means for turning said operating shaft in either direction; a coupling hook suspended from said shaft by means of a longitudinally slotted portion, whereby said coupling hook on being raised will slide backwards upon said operating shaft; a stop upon said car to engage said coupling hook when the latter is slid backward on being raised; forked members normally suspended from said operating shaft by means of a longitudinally slotted portion; a coupling link pivotally mounted upon the free end of said forked members; arms carried by said coupling hook associated with said forked members to lift said forked members; means carried by said shaft for forwardly sliding said forked members; means for transmitting the forward sliding movement of the forked members to the coupling hook when the latter is in its lifted position and thereby disengage the coupling hook from the stop holding same in the lifted position; whereby on turning the operating shaft in one direction, the coupling hook is first lifted into the ready-for-coupling position and held in this position by the said stop, and the coupling link is simultaneously lifted by the coupling hook into the ready-forcoupling position as the coupling link rests against the forked members by means of its abutments and upon rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction the coupling hook is disengaged and both the coupling hook and the coupling link are allowed todrop into the normal suspended position, substantially as described.

3. In an automatic car coupling the combination of a car; an operating shaft rotatably mounted upon said car; manually operable means for turning said operating shaft in either direction; a coupling hook suspended from said shaft by means of a longitudinally slotted portion whereby said coupling hook is adapted to turn upon said shaft and also to slide a limited distance relatively to said shaft in a plane at right angles to said shaft; a stop upon said car to engage said coupling hook when the latter has slid backward on being raised; forked members normally suspended from said operating shaft by means of a longitudinally slotted portion, whereby said forked members are adapted to be turned upon said shaft and also to slide a limited distance relatively to said shaft in a plane at right angles to said shaft; a coupling link pivotally mounted upon the free end of said forked members; means for limiting rotation of said coupling link relatively to said forked members in one direction only; means carried by said coupling hook associated with said forked members to lift said forked members; means carried by said shaft for forwardly sliding said forked members and means carried by and operable by the forward movement of said forked members for moving the coupling hook forward to disengage said hook from the stop carried by the car; whereby on turning the operating shaft in one direction the coupling hook is first lifted from its suspended position into the ready-for-coupling position and held in the latter position by the said stop, and the coupling link is simultaneously lifted by the coupling hook into the ready-for-coupling position, and upon rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction, the coupling hook is disengaged and both the coupling hook and the coupling link are allowed to drop into the normal suspended position, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic car coupling the combination of: a car; an operating shaft rotatably mounted on said car; manually operable means for turning said operating shaft in either direction; a coupling hook provided with an elongated slot and loosely mounted by means of said elongated slot portion upon said operating shaft, said hook being provided on both sides with transversely extending arms; two forked members loosely mounted upon said operating shaft by means of longitudinally slotted portions and adapted to be engaged by the laterally projecting arms of the hook, the free ends of said members forming forks; a coupling link hinged to said forks; lifter arms fixedly mounted upon said shafts; uncoupling projections fixedly mounted upon said shaft, said lifter arms engaging under the ends of the arms of the hook and the uncoupling projections co-operating with corresponding surfaces of the forked members; an abutment upon said car for engaging the rear end of the hook; abutments upon the coupling link adapted to engage under the forked members, said coupling links being wedge-shaped at their front ends.

HERMANN JAKOBS. 

